he went one on one with mccain. he did very well. most would say he beat john mccain. so i think -- i think the onerous is on president obama. >> the director of debates at southern illinois university wrote an op-ed for cnn and said both have strengths and weaknesses and this will be one of the most important presidential debates we've seen in history. here's how he outlines it. when you talk about romney's strength he says he's smooth, knowledge able, excellent first lines and tends to pivot. he says president obama, his strengths, he can be detached, he has an ability to focus and crystallize that's very strong on his reasoning. donna, do you see either one of these as being accurate here? do you think that there's some sort of opportunity, if you will for the president to attack on romney's strengths or is he pretty formidable? >> look, i think president obama is preparing very well for this debate based on what i've seen in the newspapers, but, you know, this is like the opening night on broadway where you're both playing to the audience and the room as well as to